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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Twitter Thursday

This week I chose to follow @SmartBitches. This twitter account belongs to Sarah Wendell, one of the founders and current headmistress of the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blog. The tag line is "All of the Romance, none of the bullshit." That should give you an inkling of what the tone of the blog is like.

I found out about the Smart Bitches via word of mouth. I believe it was BEA 2007 and I went with a friend who I met through Bookstore. She was working in a public library by this time and she introduced me to some wonderful ladies she'd met through her job. We were all hanging out on the lower level of Javits, waiting for the show to open. We'd gotten there early to snag tickets for the 'big' signings. When N and I discovered we shared a mutual love of romance, the recs flew fast and furious. Then she said, "Do you know the Smart Bitches blog?" I believe I was a little hesitant at first, but she made it sound so fabulous, I googled it when I recovered from the BEA daze. Now it's one of my daily sites.

This is not a serious blog. No, this is a blog that offers a tongue-in-cheek perspective on romance-related issues, topped with a hefty dose of snark. One of their regular features is Caption that Cover. The person who comes up with the snarkiest & funniest caption wins and Sarah usually has a prize for them. There's also Help a Bitch out (someone's looking for the book, but all they remember is the plot) and Friday videos (a humorous or touching you-tube vid). Sarah does cover industry-related issues, but they tend to be strictly romance related (Judith Griggs debacle aside) and from a layman's perspective. She also uses quite a bit of colorful language so it may not be work-safe, strictly speaking. Her professional website, Smart Bitch Sarah, is more, y'know, professional, but it's a good reference for Sarah's appearances & publications. Her professional website is, like, her day job, and the Smart Bitches blog is Sarah kicking off her heels & curling up on the couch with a glass of wine for a good gossip. Her twitter is snippets from that conversation.

The tone of her twitter is very true to who Sarah appears to be. Sarah shares glimpses into her personal life, talks about the book she just finished reading and what she's writing now. She doesn't tweet much about industry happenings unless she gets excited or riled up. I've "met" Sarah twice now. Once was at BEA 2009 when she signed my copy of Beyond Heaving Bosoms (an academic look at romance that's not very academic. With man titty). The second time was at RomCon 2010 where I was bold enough to ask if I could sit at her table at what turned out to be a rather bad panel. Jane from Dear Author was there as well and I was an absolute stuttering idiot from intimidation. Sarah basically told me I was crazy and then did her best to put me at ease. Her twitter account sounds exactly like she does.

I leave up to you to decide whether @SmartBitches sounds follow-worthy or not, but I'd put her squarely in the entertainment category.